Gramercy adds to Latin America private equity investment team

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Gramercy, a dedicated emerging markets investment manager, has made several hires to its Latin America private equity investment team.

The team is co-led by Gustavo Ferraro, a managing director and head of Latin American markets at Gramercy, and David Britts, a managing director focused on private equity.

The firm has also formed a TMT Advisory Board and appointed several members.

The team intends to invest in private Latin American middle market companies in the technology and technology-enabled sectors that have limited access to financing and global markets. As part of this effort, Gramercy has opened an office in Silicon Valley and will be expanding its network of local offices in Latin America.

"We believe this combination of highly experienced Latin America professionals complements our existing capabilities and will strengthen our extensive network of contacts in the region, provide substantial additional research resources, and add an exceptional operational team to our platform," says Robert Koenigsberger, managing partner and chief investment officer at Gramercy.

The investment team includes:

David Britts has been an active private equity investor for 17 years. He has been a general partner at Fuse Capital (aka, ComVentures), a Silicon Valley based venture capital fund with USD1.5bn in assets under management and a focus towards TMT since 2002. Prior to his tenure at Fuse Capital, Britts was a general partner at JPMorgan Partners, the private equity arm of JPMorgan.

Gustavo Ferraro has over 26 years of investment banking and capital markets experience. He has dedicated the majority of his career to Latin America and has extensive relationships in the region. He served as a managing director with Barclays Capital, where he led a capital markets team that managed the firm's Latin American corporate and sovereign clients with a significant focus towards debt capital markets and liability management.

Javier Ledesma-Arocena has over 12 years of private equity experience in Latin America. He launched and built up HSBC's private equity platform in Latin America, investing over USD150m in private equity transactions across Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Chile.

Carlos Anderson has over 18 years of M&A advisory experience in Latin America. He has been a senior member of advisory teams at Lehman Brothers and UBS in New York and ABN Amro in London.

Roberto Colliard, Gramercy's senior adviser for Mexico and Central America, has over 36 years of industry experience. He is currently chairman of the board of Pendulum Associates and one of Gramercy's representatives in Mexico.

Lorenzo Souza, Gramercy's senior adviser for the Andean Pact, has over 25 years of successful entrepreneurial and investment experience in Latin America. He founded and managed companies including Peru Orient Express, Peru Rail, Peruval SAB and Tele 2000, amongst others.

Building upon its investment team, Gramercy has also established an operational team that includes:

Carlos Ramon, also a Latin American national, has over 20 years of global general management and CEO experience with leading TMT companies such as PeopleSoft, Akamai, and Conviva. Ramon will be based in Silicon Valley and focus on the strategy implementation and value creation process at portfolio companies through technology transformation, geographic expansion and operational optimization in addition to leading operational due diligence on prospects and strategic plan implementation in portfolio companies.

Kevin Moure, the strategy's executive in residence (based in Mexico), will act as operating partner to portfolio companies. Moure has successfully managed several operating companies throughout his 24-year experience and currently operates Pendulum Associates, Mexico's largest independent servicer of performing and non-performing loans.

In addition to its team of senior investment professionals, Gramercy has formed a "TMT Advisory Board" that will use its expertise to strengthen networking capabilities across industries and geographies and opine on investment opportunities.